1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel apparatus having a fuel filter for removing foreign particles in fuel.
2. Description of Related Art
As a fuel filter for an in-tank type fuel pump device for a vehicle, PCT International Publication No. WO96/23569 (Izutani et al U.S. Ser. No. 08/668,476) proposes a fuel filter which has a C-shaped cross section to be mounted around an outer periphery of a fuel pump.
In this fuel filter, a filter element is attached to a filter casing by an adhesive, resulting in troublesome assembly and an increase in production costs.
Further, the filter element is formed by stacking filter materials, resulting in a limitation in filter shape. This makes it impossible as well to form the filter into a shape which corresponds to an available space between other component part, so that the fuel pump device can be reduced in size to be mounted within a fuel tank. In addition, as the filter element has ineffective spaces which do not contribute to removal of the foreign particles, the filter element has to be large in size to provide a sufficient filtering capacity.
Still further, as the fuel is pumped out from the fuel tank through a bent fuel passage, a loss in fuel pressure increases.